Month: January 2016

Hello! I cannot BELIEVE that February is already here! Well, it will be tomorrow. January seemed to fly by, and it brought me so much change (in the best way). I said good-bye to the classroom (and the kids) that I’ve called home for the past two and a half years to begin my student teaching practicum, dove into my final semester of graduate school, and (thankfully) completed my mini- January goal! I can happily report that I stuck to a 100% vegan diet this month, with no plans to stop. I also worked really hard at incorporating a solid exercise routine into my daily life: sometimes this worked, and sometimes it did not. For each week of this month, I exercised at least three times, but I find that I’m not entirely thrilled with that. After reflecting, I know I need (and want) to incorporate more exercise into my weeks. But a start is a start, and I’m happy to say that I’m ending the first month of 2016 feeling more or less fulfilled (even if already a bit stressed).

Which brings me to my mini- February goal: to meditate for at least ten minutes every single day. I recently downloaded the Breathe app onto my iPhone, and it’s safe to say that I’m obsessed with it. You can search for guided mediations based on your mood, browse through a list, and even track your progress. I’m aiming to use this app to help guide me through short mediations once or twice a day in the hope that my stress levels will go down, my overall daily moods will go up, and my concentration and mindfulness will become stronger.

I first started becoming interested in make-up around the 8th grade. I was going through a punk rock phase (I know), and I was a huge, huge fan of wearing thick inky black eyeliner all around my eyes. Again, I know. To be fair, I was only thirteen, and most definitely got my inspiration from the thousand or so Good Charlotte posters hanging on my bedroom walls.

After twelve years of experimenting with different (thank goodness) make-up looks, I’d like to think that I’ve gotten the hang of what looks good on me and what doesn’t. I love cruising through Pinterest and other blogs for beauty inspiration, which sadly means that I always want to splurge on new products. However, being a student teacher in grad school with zero income as of this week, trips to Sephora are not going to cut it. Until graduation at least!

Thankfully, I already use some key drugstore key staples that I love as much as my wallet does.

{today’s haul}

Today, I scooped up some of my usual staples:

Maybelline’s BB Cream: I really like this cream for everyday wear. It feels light on my skin, smoothes out my skin tone, and lasts all day. I also love that I can actually afford it.

2. Maybelline concealer: I try not to use this everyday, but it really comes in handy if I have a breakout. It blends really nicely with my skin, and the coverage is overall pretty good. No complaints with this guy yet!

3. Covergirl eyeliner: I have used this eyeliner FOREVER. It’s my secret trick to the perfect cat-eye (more about that in a later post.) This liner looks fresh all day, is really easy to put on, and again, won’t break the bank.

4. Neutrogena color stick in Bright Berry: Last, but certainly not least is a newbie for me. I am obsessed with lipsticks and lip balms (which T affectionately refers to as my ‘lippy stuff’) and this one is my new favorite. Awhile back I had purchased a color stick in Sweet Watermelon that didn’t really end up suiting me. When I saw this shade today, I decided to give this stick one more try, and I’m so glad I did! The color is so good, it goes on smooth, and stays on for a good amount of time, even after eating and drinking. I sense that this will quickly become my everyday shade; it’s just enough to brighten my face, without looking too fancy.

{yerp, that’s backwards}

What are some of your favorite beauty buys? Until next time!

***Disclaimer: these products were purchased by me with my own money. All opinions are my own.

Hello!! Lots has been happening over here at have heart (read: my life). First, foremost, and most obviously, have heart has moved over to WordPress! As much as I liked posting from Blogger initially, I felt that I needed a change for the site. I know next to nothing about technology and computers, so it took me a few hours to figure out how to move everything over (a task which I’m sure would have taken a normal person roughly 10 minutes.) But, alas! We’re here in our cozy new corner of the Internet. I think I’m going to like it here.

A new site name isn’t the only thing that’s new around here. Yesterday, I worked my last day, hopefully ever, as a paraprofessional. Needless to say, it was a day of extremely mixed emotions for me. On one hand, I am over the moon to begin my semester of full-time student teaching, and taking one step closer to finally having a classroom of my own. On the other hand, I had to say goodbye to a group of students that I have spent every school-day with for the past two and a half years. They are such a fantastic group of children, and working with them has brought unforeseen joy to my life. It was extremely difficult to part ways with them, and I hope that they’ll miss me as much as I miss them.

Yesterday was a tough day, but I’ve been looking forward to one last long-weekend of relaxed and free bliss before the new semester and my student teaching starts. I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing (okay, reading) with all my free time. My plan is to greet Monday refreshed, rested, and ready to kick some serious ass.

Hello! I am so so so glad that the weekend is right around the corner. This week has dragged by for some reason, and I am very much looking forward to unplugging for awhile. To brighten my spirits and fuel myself up for one last day at work before three days of freedom, I decided to crack open my new cookbook that T got me for Christmas and whip up a new recipe.

I’ve been a huge fan of Angela Liddon’s blog, ‘Oh She Glows’ for years now. I first stumbled across her page when I started to become interested in a vegan diet, and she quickly became my go-to source when wondering what to make for dinner. Needless to say, when I unwrapped her cookbook on Christmas morning, I was so excited to bring it into the kitchen and start chopping, simmering, and blending my way through it. Tonight, I chose to whip up a creamy vegetable curry with some brown rice.

{so hard to pause eating for picture-taking}

This dish…was delicious. It was perfectly warm, spicy, and stick-to-your-bones satisfying. In other words, just what I needed.

Hey all! So, we’re almost half-way through January, and I’ve been working really hard at my January goals of going 100% vegan and exercising five times per week. All was going swimmingly…until today.

I just don’t know what happened. I felt fine all day at work, and was actually looking forward to the gym and a good, lengthy sweat session. However, on my walk there, my stomach began to have really intense, sharp pains. Not wanting to give up my gym session, I tried to brush off the pain and continued on my way. I changed, put my hair up, and popped myself onto a cardio machine with the hope that the pain was just a cramp that would wear off. Well, needless to say, it didn’t, and I had to quit after five minutes.

At first, I was really down on myself for skipping out on a gym session. I felt disappointed, frustrated, annoyed, and even angry at myself for cutting my workout way short, and beat myself up over it on my home. Then, I realized…I was being a mean girl to myself. Rather than being gentle with myself and taking pride in the fact that I had listened to my body and done the right thing by stopping my workout, I was swept up in a whirlwind of hateful self-talk. Crazy, right? Uhhh, yeah. Extremely crazy.

Once I had realized that these thoughts were permeating my brain, I immediately shut them down. If I’m going to make 2016 the year that I fell in love with myself, then I wasn’t off to a very good start with this type of thought process. So, as tempting as it was to continue beating myself up over cutting a workout short, I made the choice to treat myself kindly instead. I got home, took a warm shower, brewed some tea, and indulged in some ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ My body clearly needed a break, and in giving it one, I’ll be that much more prepared to kick ass tomorrow. I did not quit on my goals today; I merely noticed what my body was screaming out to me and acted accordingly.

While I know this is a small and insignificant (in a “grand scheme of things” sort of way) moment, it was a huge victory for me. I made the conscious choice to love myself, listen to what I needed, and encourage myself that tomorrow I’ll be stronger than ever.

Hello, hello! I know I’m a few days late, but I am so excited that 2016 is here! 2015 was so good to me: I moved into a new apartment with T (a big first for both of us), started graduate school, witnessed one of my best friends get married, and got to go on amazing end-of-the-year trip to Florida. I am so grateful for everything last year brought me, and look forward to see what this year will bring.

I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I am a huge, huge fan of fresh starts in the name of improving oneself. What better time to start than New Years?? While this is the season of making sweeping resolutions (which, not to be a downer, few people end up sticking to anyway), I want to try something a bit different this year. Instead of creating a list of huge resolutions that I know I probably won’t feel motivated to see through come February, I will be choosing 12 “habits” that I either want to work into my everyday routine OR cut down on. The idea is, if I focus on one goal for a shorter period of time, I will (hopefully) be more likely to see it through and actually adopt it or remove it from my everyday life. Wish me luck!

First up is my January goal: getting my body back on track. More specifically, I will use this month to refocus on eating a nourishing plant-based diet, and exercising five days a week. While I can’t say I don’t hope to lose some weight in the process, for once this is not my central goal. Over the holidays, I completely let myself go, and now I am feeling it…in the worst way. After a few weeks of over-indulging on creamy, cheesy, and buttery treats (vegan fail), not exercising, and not sleeping enough, it’s safe to say that my body is NOT happy with me. This January, I want to take advantage of my somewhat roomier schedule to get myself back into the good habits that make me feel amazing. This month will be all about loving my body and providing it with everything that it needs: wholesome healthy food, rigorous exercise, and sleep. So much sleep.

I’m happy to report that so far I’ve been doing well! You guys…I managed to say no to cheese…while we were still in Orlando…at a Mexican restaurant. I’m determined.

What is everyone resolving to this year? I’d love to hear- until next time!

Hello all!! I deeply apologize for my absence from Have Heart…between getting ready for the holidays and wrapping up everything for my classes last semester, this blog got itself pushed wayyyy to the bottom of my to-do list. BUT! I’m back, feeling refreshed, and ready to dive back into posting again!

I am a huge fan of fresh starts (who isn’t, really) and I am so excited to share some of my resolution plans with you. I’ll post more on that later this week, but in the meantime I wanted to share some photos from our recent trip to Orlando (read: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter). We road-tripped it from Boston to Florida, which is an experience I can say I was not prepared for. Despite that, I’m happy to report that we had an absolute blast! The trip was a perfect way to wrap up the old year, welcome the new, and celebrate our one-year anniversary of living together. Considering we spent literally 48+ hours in a car together without fighting/crying/going insane, I’d say this was quite a feat.

Anyway, back to Harry Potter. While I promise we visited other areas of Orlando, most of the pictures that T took centered around this part of the trip, which I am 1000% okay with. I am a die-hard HP fan, and I literally teared up (not embarrassed) when I first saw Diagon Alley. If you haven’t made a trip…GO!!! It’s absolutely magical, even for the non-fans! T can vouch.